After looking to complete my pencil case with a kuru toga, I chose this pencil.
Very happy with it.

Pros
- Combines the kuru toga technology with an alpha gel grip. This makes it better
than other kuru togas because it combines two favorites into 1 pencil
- I bought the red grip version because it looked nicer online. The ones with
the colored barrels did not appeal to me since I wanted a colored grip.
Furthermore, red was more visually appealing than black or the teal colored
grip
- More on the grip. There's a simple red grip below the alpha gel grip. Guess
this makes it squishier? Looks cool though.
- The grip has more traction than any other alpha gels. Yet, the best grip is
still on the non-shaka, HD alpha gels.
- Now for the mechanism. VERY COOL. haha...I don't use my shaka shaker anymore
since at times, it just feels cheap. I use the kuru toga for writing notes and
the Metal barrel HD for jotting things down.
- Stupid, yes. BUT there's NO japanese "uni" sticker on this!!! I find this
awesome since the uni label will fall off over time and looks downright awful
after much use. Instead, the labels are printed on the barrel of the pencil
which is much nicer. See, little things like this make this pencil a tad better
than the other alpha gels.

Cons
- The color of the grip isn't as vivid as it looks online.
- The barrel etc is all plastic. However, the kuru toga mechanism/the main
pencil part is metal which is very nice.
- Grip isn't as squishy as other alpha gels. The shaka shaker version is the
squishiest, followed by the HD. This kuru toga firmer than both of these grips.
- Not a shaker pencil. + i haven't found a way to take it apart and insert a
shaker. downer

I agree with benjamindk1 - I wish the collar retracted. I love my current Kuru
Toga and would gladly pay for a more expensive model -- if I could safely carry
it around in my shirt pocket without stabbing myself.

For mechanical pencils, you just can't beat the kuru toga in my opinion. The
soft grip makes this an absolute pleasure to hold and use. For me it was worth
shelling out a few extra bucks for a better pencil body after trying the
lower-priced kuru toga.

I have two gripes about all mechanical pencils: the uneven wear of the point,
and the stabbing that I have to endure every time I try to find it. The Kuru
Toga solves the first problem beautifully. Other pencils solve the second
problem, but no pencil (that I know of) solves both. Of all the Kuru Toga models
that Uni sells, they don't have a retractable, pipe-locking, or, for God's sake
a bloody cap to prevent the completely unnecessary stabbing that happens when
clumsy hands try to pick it up. Still, I love this pencil.